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Explore Revelationship
The Story of The Journey To Transformative Intimacy With Christ
The word revelationship was "invented" when Dr. Randy Colver was teaching interns at Coweta Community Church. He was explaining how God reveals himself to us for the purpose of relationship. He wrote "revelation" on the whiteboard and then accidentally kept writing "ship." To the interns and to the authors, the aptly descriptive word refers to "the ways God reveals us as he pursues us for relationship."
A Family Story
My parents, Kim and Randy Colver, are former hippies, radically transformed through the Jesus Revolution. So, I (Cathy), am the first generation after one of the greatest revivals in the history of the Church. (My mom was saved on her sister's commune. She had the fringed "Jesus Saves" bag and everything.) My dad had received salvation while in the Methodist church but he received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Anchorage, Alaska, where many hippies had congregated in a church that was open to them. The dedication of this movement to intense discipleship formed the foundation of my spiritual life.
I remember falling asleep under the teaching of some of the best Bible teachers in America...literally falling asleep under the pews. My family has continued to be very involved in church and furthering the Kingdom of God. We never stopped being the church—in or outside the four walls of a building.
As an ordained Pastor and Teacher, my dad's dedication to pursuing deeper Biblical understanding created a clear path to honoring the Bible above all else. As I learned to care for the lonely individuals my mother's huge heart "adopted" trained my eye to look for those who have been rejected. My grandmother's intimacy with God in prayer inspired me to lean in and listen to God. From services to dinners with strangers at our home, from Bible studies and discipleship to nursery or teaching Sunday School—you name it—we slept, ate, and breathed revival. As a family, we have learned to see where God is on the move and to join the fray.
In a world deconstructing, Christ reveals Himself—the indestructible cornerstone of all that it means to thrive. When you embrace Christ’s revelations of his character and his great passion for a relationship with you, he personally and uniquely meets your deepest needs, wrestles your
deepest questions, and heals your deepest hurt. This is revelationship.
Introduction
Christianity is thoroughly about relationship with our Creator—deepening our relationship with
him means having deeper revelations of him. When our relationship deepens, he reveals himself
further—on and on, deeper and further, in grace-filled and Spirit-filled interaction until Christ is
also revealed through us.
Chapter 1: “Where are you?”
After Adam and Eve fell, God heartbreakingly called out to them: “Where are you?” He still asks us that today—in the busy chores and family responsibilities, in the day-by-day challenges at work, in the ever-demanding pull of entertainment. We dismiss that nagging feeling that something is missing.
Chapter 2: Revelationship Through Scripture
Studying and reading the Bible is essential to knowing God better but we should also read the Bible devotionally, as a lover of the Lord revealed in Scripture, in such a way that we encounter him. Coming to the Bible this way means we come with open hearts—that we aren’t just students of the Word, but that we desire to come “face to face with the living God.”
Chapter 3: The God Who Hides From Us
God often hides himself from us so we can experience the thrill of finding him, hiding himself in the folds and bends of the path of our life, taking different roles in our stories—suddenly appearing as the Rescuer, disappearing again only to reveal himself as the Beloved who knows us better than we know ourselves. Our stories and the revelations of him prove to us that the God who created us is the God who wants to be found.
Chapter 4: The God Who Dwells Among Us
From the fiery pillar that led the Israelites into the desert to the presence of God descending on the mountaintop to the glory that moved into the completed temple, he makes his desire to dwell among us clear. The fiery pillar that once made the mountains glow now penetrates hearts. Through Christ, God had moved into an entirely new level of revelationship with his people—indwelling them by the Spirit.
Chapter 5: The God Who Wrestles With Us
Perhaps some of us haven’t felt God's blessings for years—self-exiled from his promises and maybe even his presence. We may need to wrestle with God until we receive the revelation we need to break through.
Chapter 6: The God Who Rescues Us
We often do not see how God works things together on our behalf until the revelation comes, and we are rescued. But he is working, nonetheless. For what often looks insurmountable to us, is merely an opportunity to God.
Chapter 7: The God Who Disturbs Us
Every Sunday in churches all over America, we corral the Spirit, banish him to afterglow meetings, or rush through the service without the gifts of the Spirit. Why? It's probably because the Spirit ministers through people and that gets messy. Probably because the Spirit comes like fire and that disturbs us.
Chapter 8: Revelationship Through Prayer & The God Who Heals Us
In our experience, prayer is not begging God for a miracle, but about listening to what he wants to do and how he wants to move, then simply moving forward in faith with what he has revealed. Prayer requires a prophetic heart. It requires that we wait on God to receive the heart of God for the situation, then once he has revealed his heart, declare it here on earth in faith. It requires revelationship.
Chapter 9: The God Who Whispers To The Hurting
When Elijah had given up all hope, God revealed himself yet again. God’s voice wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire—not this time—but in a still, small voice. He often whispers to us, especially when we are hurting.
Chapter 10: Revelationship In Nature
Nature speaks to us of the glory of God and the beauty of God’s character, transcending every language. It has so much to say to us if we only have ears to hear or eyes to see. For some, the only time they feel the presence of God is while outdoors, in God's creation. This is one of the church's Sacred Pathways to experiencing God's glory and should be honored.
Chapter 11: Revelationship Through Covenant
Divine covenants (that is, covenants between God and humankind) are the means by which God establishes and maintains revelationship with us. Divine covenants enable us to step into the reciprocal, intimate relationship with God our hearts long for.
Chapter 12: Revelationship through Suffering and the God Who Wants Our Whole Life
Through suffering God intimately reveals himself and we come to trust and obey him no matter what we may face. And sometimes suffering brings us to a point where we are willing to surrender everything to Him, including our worst fears. This absolute surrender
leads us to what Jesus called the “abundant life” (John 10:10).
Chapter 13: Revelationship through History
To the listening ear, history—especially redemptive history—reveals a God who directs historical events in righteousness and justice for His purposes. God always wants the best for us, but He is also a holy God who deals justly with the sin of humankind. History shows us that God is the holy God who desires to dwell among a holy people. Through His Son, God gave the greatest act of revelationship possible.
Chapter 14: Revelationship through Church
The mission of the Church is to reveal the meek and lowly Lamb of God (the image of Christ revealed in the Gospel) who takes away the sins of the world (the power of the gospel). This is why our mission as Christians requires that we—the ones with actual hands, feet, and mouths—go into all the world and preach the gospel of Christ. By doing so, we invite the world to partner in this revelationship.
Chapter 15: A Lifetime of Revelationship
When we have a relationship with him through his Son, Jesus Christ, the Spirit opens our eyes to his revelation all around us—and he speaks to us personally over a lifetime, as well as generationally. We only need to ask in faith.
Revelationship Overview
More Books From Dr. Randy Colver
Learn how the Courtroom of Heaven affects your prayers as you join the intercession ministry of Jesus Christ.
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A workbook to help Bible students understand the revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven. E-book available via Barnes & Noble.
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So very important for today— explores the message of Romans for racial reconciliation. E-book available on B&N and Lulu.
Are speaking in tongues and the other gifts of the Spirit for today. Or did they cease after the apostolic age?
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Discover covenant relationship, including covenant commitment, breaking, and the culmination of each covenant in the final New Covenant.
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We know the Christmas wise men, but do we know the story behind them? What if Daniel, the chief magus of Babylon, set the stage for their journey?
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Each theme that John wove into the fabric of his book will help us know our Lord more completely and share His message of life.